I will be discussing in this post, the many possible connections between the Holy Serpent in its many forms from the Greek, Gnostic, Egyptian, and Hebrew myths. The Chnuphis was a Greek symbol, often used in healing charms and magical amulets. It was similar to the Egyptian Serapis in that is was depicted as a rearing snake body with a lion’s head, crowned with rays of light. There is a clear connection between the Chnuphis Serpent, which is a mystery religion icon, and Theosophy’s concept of the “seven rays.”
I suspect there has been some cross-borrowing between the Ouroboros symbol, and the Chnuphis. The Ouroboros was probably connected more so to the Milky Way and the 12 astrological signs than the Chnuphis was. Although the Chnuphis was sometimes depicted with 12 rays at its crown, I suspect the 7 ray version is more esoterically sound. In either event, it is the number seven symbolism I will discuss herein and in the second part of this post.
There are so many attributions to the number seven; most common are the seven chakras or the seven planets. I believe it is more relevant to point out the connection between the number seven and solar deities.
I would like to apologize to anyone who has not read Dune, and would like to read this blog. Nevertheless, I find it hard to discuss several relating factors without touching on Dune connections. I might as well let the cat out of the bag now and say that I believe the Dune myth was based predominantly on the Greek Apollonian myths involving Leto, Apollo, and the oracular Python.
In the Greek myth, Apollo, son of the Goddess Leto, slew the Old God Python, a Titan. The Titan Python may have been the icon of an older or competing religious cult. Robert Graves, in The White Goddess suggests the slaying of Python is the mythological interpretation a real political/religious struggle where the Apollo Cult “slew” the older cult of Python for dominance. Indications of a similar hostile takeovers and whitewashings exist througout many old texts, including the bible. The council of Nicea is the most notable historical examples of this type of scism and subsequent retaliatory orthodoxy.
In regards to the Python myth of the Greeks, there is a parallel in Jewish Myth; from The Alphabet and the Goddess: “Biblical Scholars have identified Psalms 74 and 89 as the two oldest passages in the old testament. [My italics]Each psalm tells a Creation story that predates Genesis in which Yahweh gains dominion over the universe by killing Leviathan(or Rahab), both sea serpents. The universe, therefore, must have been created by some other entity, perhaps Leviathan. (Pg122)
The Python/Leviathan snake in the Dune myth is the Sandworm, but even more so, is the concept of the Chnuphis embodied by Leto II. By merging his body with the Sandworm to create of himself a chimera god, Leto becomes not only prescient, but immortal as well. The relevance of all the imperial titles which are applied to Leto II also describes the iconography of the Chnuphis snake.
Let me break it down individually:
1. Current lineage of the Atreides Dynasty, the Atreides use a Hawk symbol as their family crest
2. The throne which Leto rules from is the “Golden Lion Throne”
3. Leto is a “God Worm” Chimera, with the face of a man
All of these symbols these connect Leto to the Chnuphis snake as it was commonly depicted.
I have made the assertion(in previous posts) that the God-Worm is based on the Egyptian Serapis myth, and tracked it back to the Hebrew letter Pe to the Heirogliphic Viper pictogram, the cerastes cerastes, or desert horned viper. If you follow the logic of my argument, which is based on a kabbalistic knowledge which Herbert most certainly had, you will have the beginnings of a kabbalistic interpretation of Dune itself.
Leto II, in the Dune myth, had prescient ability which was obtained in the spice agony, where a poison extracted in the ceremonial drowning of a worm was imbibed for its oracular powers. This immediately connects Leto to the Greek myth of the slaying of Python, and even perhaps to gnostic “Ophites,” or “snake worshippers.” Python was said to be the guardian of the oracular shrine of Delphi, and Apollo, who slew her is a Sun God.
Now, if you follow the Greek maternity beyond Leto and Apollo, you come to Apollo’s son Asclepius. Asclepius takes his symbol as the Caduceus and is associated with healing, and snakes are still associated with faith healers today. But there was another odd little snake cult that was directly associated with Asclepius; the cult of Glycon.
The cult of Glycon, which was an offshoot from the Greek mythology of Leto and Asclepius, is a much-lambasted and ridiculed sect. The only relevant historical information which exists on this cult is from the philosopher Lucian, who satirized the snake god, calling him a fake puppet. Which doesn’t really bother me much at all, considering that Gnostic religion has been threatening mainstream sects for thousands of years, and bearing the full brunt of their censure for it.
From Wikipedia: “At least initially, the [Glycon] cult did not worship an abstraction or a spirit of a snake but an actual, physical serpent that was said to embody the god. According to the cult's mythology, the snake appeared after Alexander had foretold the coming of a new incarnation of Asclepius.. When the people gathered in the marketplace of Abonutichus at noon, when the incarnation was supposed to occur, Alexander produced a goose egg and sliced it open, revealing the god within. Within a week it grew to the size of a man with the features of a man on its face, including long blond hair. At this point the figure resembling this description was apparently a puppet that appeared in the temple. In some references Glycon was a trained snake with a puppet head. As with previous Macedonian snake cults, the focus of worship at the temple was on fertility. Barren women would bring offerings to Glycon in hopes of becoming pregnant. According to Lucian, Alexander had less magical ways of causing pregnancy among his flock as well. The god was also believed to offer protection against the plague.”Now look again at my emboldened sentence above. We have the number seven, (a week has seven days,) we have the blond hair, symbolic of the lion/sun, and we have the human face. All of these prove, to my satisfaction, that there is something more to this Glycon than our helpful satirist has left us. Glycon is probably just Chnuphis, or Serapis for that matter. Barring an archeological find such as the Nag Hammadi scrolls, sadly, that is all we have of this iteration of the sun snake.
So was Chnuphis associated with Hawks, such as in the House Atreides emblem in Dune? The Chnuphis sigils had distinct stylistic characteristics:
“The choice of the green jasper (now called plasma *) for the Agathodæmon sigils was probably dictated by the resemblance of its colour to that of the sacred Asp--green banded with brown. As for the figure itself, a very ancient testimony as to its nature and signification is afforded by the tradition Eusebius has preserved (I. 7): "The serpent, unless injured by violence, never dies naturally, for which reason the Phœnicians have given it the name of the 'Good Genius,' Agathodæmon. For the same cause the Egyptians have called it 'Cneph,' and given to it the head of a hawk, because of the especial swiftness of that bird." The priest of Epeae, entitled "Head-interpreter of sacred things and Scribe," had expounded the allegory thus "The most divine Nature of all was one Serpent having the face of a hawk, and most delightful in aspect, for when he opened his eyes he filled all the places of his native region with light; but when he closed them, darkness immediately ensued." The serpent on our gems, however, does not appear invested with a hawk's head, but with a lion's; for which reason this legend applies better to the Abraxas-god, occasionally equipped with a hawk's or lion's head, in place of his proper one, that of a cock. But the idea is certainly embodied in that common design upon the Mithraic gems, a man grasping a serpent, of which the radiated head points at his eyes and seems to supply them with light.”
The vision of the Chnuphis is often depicted on the obverse of another symbol; three stacked s shapes on a staff. Both the lion and the snake are solar animals, as is the rooster, and this symbolism has been passed down through the generations. Could the snake symbolize something Kabbalistic? Perhaps the snake represents kundalini, or activation of the Chakras sequentially from the base of the spine to the head. In this sense, the snake symbol is opposite to the lightning bolt symbol which activates the chakras in reverse (head down.)
Paul Maud’Dib, father of Leto, actually has all of the interesting mythological attributes of Apollo, and if Frank Herbert had stopped at just one novel, it would make for a much less tangly knot to untie. Paul has three names, or forms, a child name(Paul), a tribal name(Usul), and a conquering name(Maud’Dib.) Paul’s tribal name, Usul, means “the base of the pillar.”
From Wikipedia: The god [Apollo] seems to be related to Appaliunas, a tutelary god of Wilusa, (Troy) in Asia Minor, but the word is not complete. The stones found in front of the gates of HomericTroy were the symbols of Apollo. The Greeks gave to him the name αγυιεύς agyieus as the protector god of public places and houses who wards off evil, and his symbol was a tapered stone or column. However, while usually Greek festivals were celebrated at the full moon, all the feasts of Apollo were celebrated at the seventh day of the month, and the emphasis given to that day (sibutu) indicates a Babalonian origin.
This Wikipedia quote is also interesting in that it connects Apollo to the number seven.
For his third name, Paul asks Stilgar, “What do you call the mouse shadow on the second moon?” And takes his namesake Maud’Dib from it.
Apollo is associated with mice due to their connection with transmission of disease. Apollo was believed to be able to bring Health or Sickness in this role. Wikipedia: Apollo and his sister Artemis can bring death with their arrows. The conception that diseases and death come from invisible shots sent by supernatural beings, or magicians is common in Germanic and Norse mythology. In Greek Mythology Artemis was the leader (ηγεμόνη : hegemone) of the nymphs, who had similar functions with the Nordic Elves. The "elf-shot" originally indicated disease or death attributed to the elves, but it was later attested denoting arrow-heads which were used by witches to harm people, and also for healing rituals.
Other Connections:
Several of the Atreides family members are born, like many Greek Gods, with adult minds and abilities. The Greek God Artemis was said to have been born, and to have immediately taken the midwife role in helping her mother Leto give birth to Apollo. Chani and Alia, in Dune are both born “abominations,” with awareness of their past lives and the full intellectual abilities of an adult Bene Gesserit Witch. In addition to these other Apollonian connections, Leto’s wolves, which guard his Citadel, are also an animal which is sacred to Apollo.
My own further interpretation:
For some reason, certain mystical or frenzied psychological states, exhibit with common compulsions and obsessions. The imagery of “solar rays” is observable throughout the famous Streiber case which Jung and Freud both studied extensively. The “Seven Rays” of Theosophy and many corresponding symbols still provide little explanation as to why this imagery is so potent and stirring.
Ancient people practiced dying, in fact, the Egyptians buried their dead with convenient instruction manuals. William Blake was adamant that the death experience was available “while in the body.” So what is this death experience? It is a quite common Esoteric procedure to “bury people alive.” Castaneda experienced it, and the Masonic orders practice it as well. I believe under certain stressors, or in a meditational or imaginal practice, consciousness withdraws to the oldest and most ancient part of the brain:
“The reptilian complex, also known as the R-complex or "reptilian brain" was the name MacLean gave to the basal ganglia, structures derived from the floor of the forebrain during development. The term derives from the fact that comparative neuroanatomists once believed that the forebrains of reptiles [snakes?] and birds [hawks?] were dominated by these structures. MacLean proposed that the reptilian complex was responsible for species typical instinctual behaviors involved in aggression, dominance, territoriality, and ritual displays.” Source #7
Therefore, while the Chnuphis is a mystical vision, it may be based on a real physical perception of the Reptilian Complex. As such, the connection between this image and the accompanying symbolism is fully explained. Is this is the real Chnuphis Serpent?
Sources:
The Alphabet and The Goddess,
Leonard Shlain
The Gnostics and
Their Remains, by Charles
William King, [1887], at sacred-texts.com pg 213-on (picture of Gnostic amulets also from this)
Triune Brain Article, Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triune_brain
http://www.kornbluthphoto.com/Abrasax1.html
Dune,
God Emperor of Dune, Frank Herbert
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